10.3 Guard Duty, the Three General Orders, and Operations Security

Guard Duty, the Three General Orders, and Operations Security

Core Principle: The three general orders are the oldest recitation in the Army board, and they are asked verbatim. They are also the shortest complete statement of what a sentry does: guard the post, follow instructions, and report what is not covered.

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1. The Three General Orders

General Order Number 1

I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.

General Order Number 2

I will obey my special orders and perform all my duties in a military manner.

General Order Number 3

I will report violations of my special orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in my instructions to the commander of the relief.

Recite them verbatim, at the position of attention, with full projection. Board members will stop a candidate who paraphrases.

General orders vs. special orders

A sentry must be able to state both — the three general orders and the special orders for the post they are standing.

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2. Guard Organization and the Relief

• Guard mount is the formation at which the guard is inspected, briefed, and posted. Sentries arrive with a serviceable weapon, the prescribed uniform, and their special orders.
• A relief is typically two hours on and four hours off, though the duration is set by the order.
• A sentry quits the post only when properly relieved. The relieving sentry states that they understand the special orders before the outgoing sentry departs.

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3. Challenge and Password

The challenge and password protect the post from infiltration. The sequence:

1. Halt the person at a distance where the sentry can deal with them and where they cannot see or hear anything they should not.
2. Challenge quietly: "Halt! Who goes there?"
3. Require identification: the person answers with their identity and purpose.
4. Advance one to be recognized: bring the person forward far enough to be identified, keeping the rest of the group where they are.
5. Give the challenge and require the password. The sentry gives the challenge word; the person must answer with the correct password.
6. Admit or detain. If the answer is correct, the person is admitted. If not, the sentry detains them and calls the commander of the relief.

The challenge and password are classified, changed on a set schedule, and are never written on the post or discussed off duty. A sentry who forgets them calls the commander of the relief rather than guessing.

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4. Use of Force

Guard duty is one of the few peacetime duties in which a Soldier may be armed against another person. The governing framework — AR 190-14 and the applicable rules for the use of force — establishes:

• Deadly force is authorized only to protect life, and only where lesser means have been exhausted or would be inadequate.
• Typical authorized circumstances include self-defense and defense of others, and the protection of assets whose loss would create an immediate danger to life — nuclear weapons, chemical agents, and designated arms rooms among them.
• A verbal warning — "Halt! Halt or I will fire!" — is given when time and circumstances permit.
• Warning shots are prohibited unless expressly authorized by the applicable rules for the use of force.
• Minimum force necessary is the default for everything short of a threat to life.

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5. Operations Security

Operations security (OPSEC) is the process of denying an adversary information about friendly capabilities and intentions. AR 600-20 lists operations security among the commander's responsibilities, and every Soldier executes it.

The five-step OPSEC process

1. Identify critical information — what an adversary needs to know to hurt you.
2. Analyze the threat — who wants it and what collection capability do they have.
3. Analyze vulnerabilities — how could they get it.
4. Assess risk — how likely and how damaging.
5. Apply countermeasures — what you change to close the vulnerability.

Essential Elements of Friendly Information

Common critical information includes:

• Deployment and movement dates, routes, and manifests
• Unit strength, readiness percentages, and equipment shortfalls
• Names and locations of key leaders
• Communication frequencies, call signs, and passwords
• Base defense plans, gate schedules, and patrol patterns
• Casualty information before next-of-kin notification

Where OPSEC actually fails

Not in classified spaces. It fails on social media — geotagged photographs, a countdown to a deployment, a spouse's post naming a departure date — and in public conversation in dining facilities, airports, and gyms. It also fails through aggregation: a dozen individually unclassified facts assembled into a classified picture.

Related programs: the Insider Threat Program in AR 600-20, and antiterrorism awareness, where the reporting mechanism is "If you see something, say something" through the chain of command and military police.

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6. Board Answers

• "State your three general orders." Recite verbatim. Do not paraphrase.
• "What is the difference between a general order and a special order?" General orders apply to every Soldier on guard; special orders are issued in writing for a specific post.
• "What do you do if someone approaches your post and does not know the password?" Halt them at a distance, detain them, and call the commander of the relief. Do not let them advance and do not guess at the password.
• "When may you use deadly force on guard?" Only to protect life, when lesser means have been exhausted or would be inadequate, in accordance with the rules for the use of force for that post.
• "What are the five steps of the OPSEC process?" Identify critical information, analyze the threat, analyze vulnerabilities, assess risk, apply countermeasures.